I'm the girl with a fork in a world full of soup

1. A good writing program. I use a combination of Word and Scrivener. For most of the writing I have done in the past 10 years I have always used Word as my n°1 writing program. It's probably one of the most widely and commonly used programs and is easy to use on top of it. Currently I am using Word to write my entire NaNo month in and am copy pasting the Chapters/Scenes/Sections into Scrivener afterwards. It makes it a little easier to have a clear view on my word count. Whereas with Scrivener, I only found out about that after my first year of Nano. But since then I am absolutely smitten with it. It's a writing tool that allows me to not only section my story in an easy way but has some extra features that have really improved my writing experience. It's a little difficult to find your way within the program but once I had it figured out, it has served me well and I can't imagine not using it anymore. It allows me to have everything I need to write my novel within reach: my manuscript, my character maps and outlines, locations I want to include, and even a map solely dedicated to my research (a map filled with images, music, etc.). It has simply become the representation of what this story looked like inside my brain.

(okay, my own scrivener file is far from this long yet, but you get the idea)

2. Notebooks This digital age is great but my best ideas often come to me whenever I'm not near my computer. My bed, the bus, the train (basically all public transport), in a shopping center, during work, in public,.... It is then that a notebook is exactly what you need, even if it's just to quickly write down the general outline. I have filled plenty of notebooks over the years and always try to make sure that I have one in at least every bag that I use. Sure, I could use my phone but I'm often quicker with writing it down in a notebook than I am when typing away on my phone. Notebooks is the way to go! 3. Music For the last WIPs I have been writing, I have created playlists on Spotify. These playlists hold songs that I want to include my story or inspire a certain scene. This current story was all the result of listening to one song. It completely enrolled in front of me as I listened to that one particular song. Some people can't stand noise when they are working but I have found that I work much better if I have something that inspires me. It's also great to create a certain mood or emotion within yourself that you need for a certain scene. So music is a definite must-have for me and I've already mentioned Spotify but another one that I turn to often is 8tracks. 4. Awesome mugs that hold my fuel Let's face it. It's impossible to survive your writing lock-down without a nice cup of (fill in at your own liking). Personally I'm a hot chocolate type of girl. I'll drink tea too but would rarely touch the coffee. It only seems logical that this cup of humanity is provided in a beautiful mug. One of my favourite ones and quite appropriate for the occasion is the one from Blossom Books.

5. Cheat sheets Sometimes a good cheat sheet is exactly what you need. Whether it's to inspire your emotion descriptions or to upgrade your word variation, they are one of my favourite things to use. Especially as a non-native English writer I can really appreciate a cheat sheet that informs me about word synonyms etc. I have my personal collection of cheat sheets in a separate page on my Tumblr page and regularly find myself going there.

6. Timeline The novel I'm currently writing involves a collection of recent events and flashbacks and I have found that a timeline has really helped me with keeping track of what's happened so far. It also allowed me to have a better insight in which ages my characters has around a certain time and helped in deciding which flashback should go where. Currently using: Timeline 7. Noise In close relation to music are the noise generating websites. Two of my favourites are: http://www.noisli.com/: which generates noises from a forest noises to a coffeeshop and even allows you to combine several sounds together. http://coffitivity.com/: Is Starbucks your favourite place to write? Now you can create the same noises from your computer ^^ 8. Rewards A little reward for the good progress your making is an absolute must! I like to reward myself with food (what a shocker, I know) or by playing a quick game. However if you prefer not to distract yourself with physical rewards and prefer to continue writing until the day is over. I might just have the thing for you. I used this website two years ago whenever I was approaching a scene I was dreading or was stuck in a scene and didn't want to get back to it. 'Written Kitten' is the place to go for the cat loving author! You get a new kitten picture whenever you have written a certain amount of words. It's absolutely adorable and a much more peaceful alternative than 'Write or Die'.

(let's face it, who wouldn't want to be rewarded with a kitten?)

9. The Internet As much as they are a source of procrastination they also offer a great source of motivation (and information). Especially during the time of nanowrimo, Tumblr and Twitter are great places to find writing prompts, helpful resources and writing buddies. Though I haven't been on Tumblr in a very long time, in the last few years that I participated in nano, I have created a page dedicated to great writing posts that I have found on Tumblr.

http://silkereadsandwrites.tumblr.com/tagged/writing

Audience member: Do you ever cry while writing a scene?

5+ stars (it was amazing) for The Piano Man Project by Kat French

- Amazon UK paperback | e-book

- Amazon US paperback | e-book

- The Book Depository

- Goodreads

Publication date: July 30th

Finding love isn’t always black and white… 

You: kind, piano-playing sex godMe: hopelessly romantic charity shop manager 

Honeysuckle Jones has a problem, and her best friends Nell and Tash are on a mission to help her solve it. She needs a man – a caring, intelligent, funny man. But most importantly, a man who’s good with his hands… 

Luckily Honey’s new neighbour – moody, antisocial ex-chef Hal – fails on almost every count. Even though the chemistry between them is electric, he’s obviously wrong for her in every way. 

But when Honey discovers the devastating reason for his moods she decides to give him another chance. And discovers that the best songs aren’t always in tune… 

Source: Goodreads

I was kindly given a copy through netgalley for an honest review. With many thanks to the publisher.

What a page-turner! I am absolutely in love with this book and didn't want to put it down.

It was love at first read with this book! That opening line immediately grabbed my attention and it only got better from there.

It pained me whenever I had to put the book down and my fingers itched to get back to it with every quiet moment. Even if that 'quiet moment' was a silence of 10 seconds during lunch with my friends. I'm almost ashamed to admit that on the smallest of occasion, I abandoned all rules of politeness and reason and simply tried to sneak in a bit of reading. I just couldn't put it down!

Honeysuckle Jones is working in the local charity shop that's attached to the elderly home in her town. She lives an easy no-nonsense life with friends and co-workers she loves. But then her friends find out that Honey has a little problem and all of a sudden she finds herself turning into their little project. The mission? Make Honey orgasm! Honey's two friends can only think about one type of man perfect for this mission: a pianist. A man who is good with his hands and fingers.

But Honey is the least excited about her friends making her their newest project.

(sorry! it was stronger than myself)

And why should she, when she finds herself completely enchanted by her newest neighbour?

Hal used to be a famous top-chef, a family man, a great lover and adrenaline junkie.

Now, Hal is grouchy, sarcastic and rude. He drinks and curses like a sailor and mainly locks himself inside.

Hal is also Honey's newest neighbour.

Honey and Hal's first meeting isn't exactly one great love songs are written about but soon enough Honey finds herself completely pulled towards her neighbour who is an ass 90% of the time and nice only 10%. Yet he's 100% able to make her knees melt and arouse something inside of her that she has never encountered before.

While Hal struggles with figuring out a life after his accident which has caused him to be blind and run from his previous life, he finds that it takes only one determined person to make a change. The strawberry scented girl from across the hall is annoyingly naive and chirpy but stubborn nonetheless. How do you push someone away who seems to be exactly what you need?

As I said earlier, I was absolutely in love with this book and the only thing I dislike about it is the fact that I didn't write it myself! Kat French is a very clever writer with great wit, a great amount of passion and a perfect ability to time when she should give what sort of information. I think I am jealous!

She perfectly managed to make every character stand on its own whether it was a main or a minor character. But most of all (which I envy her for a lot) she managed to sew in little bits of information that added to these characters at the perfect spot instead.

She created a novel in which sexy and funny, wit and drama, and main story and side story were perfectly combined together, resulting in a very clever novel in which everything is in perfect balance. I especially loved how Kitty French (Kat French's naughty alter-ego and author of erotic fiction) added some of the spice to the encounter between these two remarkable characters. Hot and steamy and only making you fall in love with Hal more.

I have a weakness for fictional man who are a little dark and hard on the outside but all sweet and soft on the inside; like a lava cake. Both are impossible not to fall in love with and Hal is exactly that! I found myself totally swooning over him and had to remind myself several times that he was fictional, sadly enough.

Me Before You is one of my all-time favourite books and I got a little bit of that vibe from The Piano Man Project. It made it, for me, even more perfect as I love the sort of chemistry that these books portray. The broody, heated, I love you but I hate you sort.

I seriously recommend this book to anyone because I am so in love with it!

1,5 stars (It was ok) for Satisfaction by Andee Reilly.

Publication date: August 4th

When 22-year-old Ginny Martin discovers her husband has been cheating on her, she strikes back. Buying tickets to every concert on the Rolling Stones North American tour, this devastated suburban housewife packs up the car and takes to the road. Following the Rolling Stones from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City, Ginny experiences freedom for the first time, while coping with the insecurities and limiting beliefs that had kept this small town girl’s life far too small. Bree Cooper is a nomad, a free-spirited drifter, and a mother who abandoned responsibility – and her young daughter – years before. When Ginny meets Bree at a roadside diner, they impulsively make the decision to throw their lot in together. In each other they find a friendship that they both had longed for. Bree also gives Ginny a chance to have a mother-figure who inspires independence and encourages confidence, while Ginny gives Bree a chance to get parenting right on the second try.

Source: Goodreads

I received this book through Netgalley for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book! A story about Ginny making a roadtrip and following around her favourite band? What's not to like about it!

But it failed to capture me.

When Ginny finds out her husband has been cheating on her, she takes off on a crazy roadtrip to follow around her favourite band, The Rolling Stones. During her trip she meets Bree who is everything Ginny believes she isn't: Wild and Spontaneous. They continue their trip together and start their own little adventure.

Only their adventure isn't really and adventure and their friendship seemed a bit weird. I couldn't relate to either character - this coming from a person who has followed around her own favourite band on several occasions- and the dynamic between the two woman was a little out of balance.

Andee Reilly is a big Rolling Stones fan herself, which you can tell by the passionate way she writes about them in this story. However (and I say this with the utmost respect), sometimes it felt more like I was reading a Stones biography rather than a fiction novel.

The pace of the book was at times very slow and every time it seemed to reach some kind of peak, it dropped back down. I really did want to like this book but sadly enough it didn't work for me. In all honesty, I wanted to quit by the time I was halfway.

Having said that, I am sure this book will find its way to some other people who will absolutely adore this book and who will be able to relate to the characters in a way that I failed to.

About the Author: 

2 stars (I liked it) for The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.

Publication date: June 18th

Warning: once you let books into your life, the most unexpected things can happen… This is a book about books. All sorts of books, from Little Women and Harry Potter to Jodi Picoult and Jane Austen, from to Stieg Larsson to Joyce Carol Oates to Proust. It’s about the joy and pleasure of books, about learning from and escaping into them, and possibly even hiding behind them. It’s about whether or not books are better than real life. It’s also a book about a Swedish girl called Sara, her elderly American penfriend Amy and what happens when you land a very different kind of bookshop in the middle of a town so broken it’s almost beyond repair. Or is it? The Readers of Broken Wheel has touches of 84 Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Chocolat, but adds an off-beat originality and intelligence all its own. Source: Goodreads

I got this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am slightly conflicted about this book. By the time I finally got into it and started liking it, it was over.

But maybe that's of the purpose. The town only came back to life thanks to Sara, so it could only start pulling you in once it was alive again.

In all honesty I had expected more from this book. When I had read the description I had expected it to be something in the likes of 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' (a book that happens to be mentioned in the actual book), but it wasn't.

This book was different. Take a broken town, a Swedish girl and the opening of a bookstore and see how everything evolves in a town where everyone all of a sudden seems to come back to life after the arrival of the new girl.

Overall I found that the voice of the book at times too weak to stand up against the expectations. I'll be the first to admit that this book only a handful of times managed to scrape the expectation line I had set for it (and I believe myself to be fairly reasonable when it comes to book related expectations).

The fact that the main character adores books and has spend a lifetime around books, made me like her instantly. When I also found some of her characteristics and traits back in myself, you'd think that I'd instantly relate to her but even with Sara I struggled. Everything just felt sort of 'flat' and even though the author managed to give her secondary characters their own voice and share their backstories, it was never enough to pull me in.

But I appreciated Sara's love for books and the honorable mentions of many beautiful books throughout the entire story. What I liked even more was that it was books that managed to bring part of this town and its inhabitants back to life, Even more so when you find that Sara manages to find a book for most people in the town and not necessarily by sticking to the obvious choices. We end up with a severly Christian woman buying gay erotica, or an older men being pulled in the world of Bridget Jones.

I found myself starting to enjoy it more and more once the town itself became more vibrant, but it's such a shame that this only started to happen when I embarked the last 100 pages. There were definitely a few remarkable lines in the book, that made me stop and appreciate the text I was holding in my hands. Some of which might just stick with me but it wasn't enough to make the book stand.